FACTORS AFFECTING BRANDS AND COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURISM DESTINATIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MEKONG DELTA.

International travel is one of the fastest-expanding links, connecting countries worldwide and bringing them closer together. Since 1990, many Southeast Asian countries have opened their doors to international integration and have become attractive destinations for international tourists by promoting tourism development, typically Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The study of brands and competitiveness for tourism destinations in Vietnam is essential. However, there is no research done yet to study the brands and competitiveness of destinations in Mekong Delta. This research aims to define factors affecting the brand and competitiveness of a tourism destination; its foundation is a synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research methods and it focuses on a case study in the Mekong Delta. Group conversations with specialists were held to conduct qualitative research. Research directly interviewed 650 tourists in Mekong Delta tourist areas and was used to conduct quantitative research. The research will show which specific factors affect the brand and destination competitiveness in the Mekong Delta that other researchers have not shown. The research results show that: (i) brand of a destination is affected by eight factors (tourism infrastructure, natural environment, destination adaptation, culinary culture, safety and security in tourism, hospitality, service costs and local folk music); (ii) competitiveness of a destination is affected by nine factors (tourism infrastructure, natural environment, destination adaptation, culinary culture, safety and security in tourism, human service costs, local folk music and brand). From the results, this research suggests some managerial implications for expanding brands and strengthening the destination competitiveness in the Mekong Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]